Consumers have been advised to protect their identity while browsing the internet to help reduce the risk of fraud.
Financial services firm Equifax has suggested that online identity theft will become increasingly prevalent in the future as scammers look to take advantage of insecure browsing habits.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at the group, said that while many people have taken measures not to make personal information publicly available to fraudsters by giving out their phone number of throwing mail away, some internet users are failing to take similar precautions online.
"Whether it's Facebook and other social networking sites or sophisticated phishing or emails pretending to be your bank, those are the areas where people have really got to watch out and take some care," Mr Munroe suggested.
According to CIFAS, which aims to prevent fraud in the UK, 77,500 cases of identity fraud were reported in 2007.
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